The first thing on the agenda this morning was to get the
vehicle fixed. There was no way I was going anywhere with a leak as bad as a
running tap. And that too in the radiator! First things first, I headed off to
the workshop on the Airport Road. I had got my vehicle serviced there in one of
my earlier trips and remembered the mechanic to be a reliable one. My problem
would be if parts were required and chances were that the required part would
not be available in Leh. Sure enough, it was a busted water body/pump that had
to be replaced. All kinds of desi jugaad was suggested by sundry people, but
the fact was that the water body/pump had to be replaced. And it was not
available in Leh.
In one of my marshalling days at the Desert Storm, my
friend had the same problem. He had to go some 200km to get a water body to
replace the one that had busted up in his vehicle. I promptly called him to
find one in Delhi. He also had to let me know what model the water body/pump
needed to be since my vehicle so heavily modified. He called me back a few
minutes later telling me that what I required was one that is used in a diesel
Ambassador. No luck still in Leh since there are no Ambassador cars here. I
called up a friend of mine to buy one in Delhi and air cargo it to Leh to reach
me tomorrow.
He called up a few minutes ago saying that he was at the
cargo counter at the airport and chances were 90% good that it would reach me
in Leh tomorrow morning. That was one piece of good news. The flights come in
here early morning and I will have the material with me before the workshop
opens. Which means I will be on my way to Marsimik La sometime in the
afternoon.
In fact I will stay at Tangtse in Dad’s unit and then
early morning the day after will start the expedition from Marsimik La. I hope
to cover the five passes in about 12-15 hours, which means that if I can start
from Marsimik La at around six in the morning, I will be at Tanglang La at
around 5 in the evening. After that I will have to retrace my tracks, go to Tso
Moriri and do Namshang La and Polokang La, which in all probability will be in
the dark. The scary part is that the road from Tso Moriri to the Morey Plains
is uncharted. The last time I did this route was way back in 2003 and the 60
odd kilometres had taken us nearly ten hours. People tell me that there is a
road these days and I am banking on that. If I can hit Morey Plains by
midnight, I should be able to complete Kangla Jal, Lachulung La, Nakeela and
Baralacha La in the next five hours. That would give me eleven passes in 24
hours, a new world record.
Anyway, back to today. Workshop duty was assigned to
Radhey Shyam and the rest of the crew headed off to Khardung La, the world’s
highest motorable road. I was assigned driver duty again and we all loaded up
in the support vehicle and headed off to Khardung La. The roads were great and
much better than what I had experienced before, particularly up from South
Pullu. The weather was nice, but once we reached Khardung La top, it started
getting windy and the clouds rolled in. The temperature was way below freezing
and we took guesses at whether it was ten below or lower. We had to shoot some
sequences and the weather was taking its toll. Anil took out his via.com flag
and took some pictures for official use. We stayed at Khardung La for nearly
two hours and by the time it was time to leave, it had started snowing. Not
very heavy but would get heavier with each passing minute. Time to leave. And I
had to be here again in two days for the record attempt!
Nadeem had had enough and the altitude had taken its
toll. He was not going to risk the record attempts anymore and decided to fly
back to Delhi tomorrow. Anil too was leaving, he had spent more time than
anticipated and he had done his bit. He wants to be a part of the effort, but
duty calls. It has been great travelling with him and I think I have made a
friend for years to come. Thanks Anil for travelling with me.
After coming back from Khardung La, we visited the Leh
Palace to find the doors locked. Probably some renovation work was going on and
visitors were off limits. Zorawar Fort beckoned. Anil and me then went scouting
for an internet cafe to check mails. That done, it was back at the hotel for
one last good night’s sleep. From tomorrow it would be Sushil and Radhey Shaym
and me till Manali for the next days, after which it would be just Sushil and
me till Arunachal for the next week and then the drive back to Delhi.
The expedition has begun and the goose bumps can be felt.
Butterflies are flittering about in the stomach and I hope I can accomplish
what I intend to. Something deep in my heart tells me that my Ladakh escapades
might be over and I might not be here on expeditions for some time now. Age is
catching up and this might just be my last hoorah. Be that as it may, I still
have a job to do and I will do it to the best of my ability. I hope that I can
enter office holding three fresh world records to my name. I owe it to all
those who have supported me.
Cheers people. I’ll see you when I’ll see you. And that
may not be for three or four days now since I will be completely cut off from
internet and phone connectivity. Wish me Godspeed and cheers to you all.
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